BillyRadd Music

Billy Radd Music

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Keepin' the Sideburns

Tryin' to stay alive and keep my sideburns, too.

Those of us who were living in what we then called the "civilized world" during the early 1970s might remember a song performed by the Great Leon Russell (co-written with Marc Benno) about the trials of stepping lightly through life while maintaining a personal sense of purpose - Tryin' To Stay Alive, Copyright 1971 Skyhill Publishing Company, Inc. You can hear this song by finding a copy of the old CD entitled Asylum Choir, or if you download it from Amazon, iTunes, or get thee to this YouTube link and scan into this "video" to about 2:27 where Leon begins his honkytonk intro to this happy little ditty.

I have thought of the opening lyric many times over the years and it continues to be a personal mantra as I grow as white-haired as Leon himself always was, as far as I know.

Tryin' to stay alive and keep my sideburns, too.

Can I get an Amen?

So, here I find myself and my good wife Anita living in a beautiful place called Asheville, with its wonderful, diverse population, working on Anita's TV cooking show, sitting on our balcony overlooking a hardwood forest, birds singing in every direction, writing a bass riff as an assignment for my bass teacher, Kevin. I'm staying alive AND keeping my sideburns, too, although it is getting a bit hard to see them as they are so light and white.

But, Mates, that ain't no Margarita sitting on the table before me and Mela Kani, me trusty Ubass. It's Gatorade, now simply known as G, if you hadn't heard. Somewhere, I've picked up a good dose of a nasty stomach virus. I can't eat, or sleep much, or go anywhere for fear of spreading this plague.

But, I'm staying alive and keeping my sideburns, too.

What could be better? (Except maybe a nice steak, baked potato and green salad with blue cheese dressing).